This is... I think the most fair criticism of Kay I've ever read, and I hadn't thought about the books in quite that way. (Though it explains some of why I bounced off this book, I think.)
I adore Kay. I encountered his books when I was a too-serious fifteen-year-old, exactly when I wanted the overwrought delicacy of his prose. And I still love Lord of Emperors -- it has all the flaws of other Kay novels (though no prostitutes! a few affairs, but no courtesans), but it hits my narrative kinks perfectly. That all being said: you are absolutely right about every one of your criticisms of his work.
Tigana is... mixed. There are things about it I love. There are deeply kink-negative things about it I side-eye, and there's one plot line which I think either hits your id really hard, or just completely passes you by. (I was in the latter category.) I'm glad I read Tigana when I did, but I'm not sure I would love it if I read it for the first time now.
I think his strongest book is The Lions of Al-Rassan, though I think you will react with "JUST HAVE A THREESOME ALREADY DAMN IT". (Though Lions, unlike Fionavar, is clear that the threesome would be about more than just male desire; that Jehane wants both of them.)
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momijizukamori and
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Date: 2014-06-12 04:59 am (UTC)I adore Kay. I encountered his books when I was a too-serious fifteen-year-old, exactly when I wanted the overwrought delicacy of his prose. And I still love Lord of Emperors -- it has all the flaws of other Kay novels (though no prostitutes! a few affairs, but no courtesans), but it hits my narrative kinks perfectly. That all being said: you are absolutely right about every one of your criticisms of his work.
Tigana is... mixed. There are things about it I love. There are deeply kink-negative things about it I side-eye, and there's one plot line which I think either hits your id really hard, or just completely passes you by. (I was in the latter category.) I'm glad I read Tigana when I did, but I'm not sure I would love it if I read it for the first time now.
I think his strongest book is The Lions of Al-Rassan, though I think you will react with "JUST HAVE A THREESOME ALREADY DAMN IT". (Though Lions, unlike Fionavar, is clear that the threesome would be about more than just male desire; that Jehane wants both of them.)